A Promoter Relay Mechanism for Sequential Gene Activation

Overview

Journal J Bacteriol

Publisher American Society for Microbiology

Specialty Microbiology

Date 1998 Feb 11

PMID 9457867

Citations 18

Authors

M Fang

H Y Wu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The effect of DNA supercoiling on gene expression is dependent not only on specific genes but also on the sequence context of the genes. This position-dependent supercoiling effect on gene activation is best illustrated in the study of the suppression of the leu-500 mutation of the leuABCD operon in a Salmonella typhimurium topA mutant. In this communication, we report a novel promoter relay mechanism whereby several genes are sequentially expressed in a position-dependent manner: the ilvIH promoter (pilvIH) activates a cryptic leuO promoter (pleuO) located between the two divergently arrayed ilvIH and leu-500 promoters. Both the cis-acting pleuO activity and the trans-acting LeuO protein are necessary for subsequent activation of the leu-500 promoter (pleu-500). Furthermore, pleuO can be functionally replaced with the inducible tac promoter (ptac) for leu-500 activation, suggesting that transcription-driven DNA supercoiling underlies the relay mechanism. This is the first example of several related genes communicating via a promoter relay mechanism for their coordinated expression.

Citing Articles

Transcription-driven DNA supercoiling counteracts H-NS-mediated gene silencing in bacterial chromatin.

Figueroa-Bossi N, Fernandez-Fernandez R, Kerboriou P, Bouloc P, Casadesus J, Sanchez-Romero M Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1):2787.

PMID: 38555352 PMC: 10981669. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47114-w.

NusG prevents transcriptional invasion of H-NS-silenced genes.

Bossi L, Ratel M, Laurent C, Kerboriou P, Camilli A, Eveno E PLoS Genet. 2019; 15(10):e1008425.

PMID: 31589608 PMC: 6797219. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008425.

DNA Supercoiling: an Ancestral Regulator of Gene Expression in Pathogenic Bacteria?.

Martis B S, Forquet R, Reverchon S, Nasser W, Meyer S Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2019; 17:1047-1055.

PMID: 31452857 PMC: 6700405. DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2019.07.013.

Inhibition of the gyrA promoter by transcription-coupled DNA supercoiling in Escherichia coli.

Dages S, Dages K, Zhi X, Leng F Sci Rep. 2018; 8(1):14759.

PMID: 30282997 PMC: 6170449. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33089-4.

Transient and dynamic DNA supercoiling potently stimulates the promoter in .

Zhi X, Dages S, Dages K, Liu Y, Hua Z, Makemson J J Biol Chem. 2017; 292(35):14566-14575.

PMID: 28696257 PMC: 5582848. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M117.794628.

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